Bottle # 1 - George Dickel No. 12

This is the other Tennessee whiskey. Jack may get most of the press, but Dickel has a special place in my "bar" (as it's only a shelf in my house, under the plants that got moved inside in the winter...such is the life of living in a small apartment).

Made just south of me in Cascade Hollow, near Tullahoma, George Dickel Whisky won me over after a visit to their distillery. Due to some wonderful laws, the only places where whiskey is made in Tennessee are located in dry counties, meaning that while certain bottles can be sold only at the distillery, there are no tastings allowed (Will prohibition ever really end?). I picked up a bottle of Dickel No. 12 shortly after, and it's kept a spot in my house ever since.

No. 12 is 90 proof, and has a nice reddish amber color, a little darker than the bottle of Ridgemont Reserve I currently also have, and much darker than the Johnnie Walker Red.

On the nose, it seems to me to be very sweet, and I pick out vanilla and maybe some honey.

The taste is, as with the nose, it's very sweet. Letting it move around the mouth a bit brings out some of the vanilla. The finish is not too long, and has a taste of pepper.

George Dickel No. 12 is a whisky that I plan on always having around. It's a great every-day kind of whisky. I haven't tried to No. 8 yet, but I would be interested to compare them. My father-in-law bought a bottle of the single barrel while we were at the distillery, but I didn't try it while he was here. I saw a bottle at my local store, so I do plan on getting one eventually.

Thus concludes my first tasting. Please feel free to leave a comment if anything I said sounds weird, or if you have any advice for future tastings. As I said before, I'm new at this.

The cat's sleeping next to me, the wife is out with a friend, so I think I'll finish off this pour and read a little more McCarthy. Seems appropriate.

-ed